The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2005 |
| length | 29 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | John Canemaker |
| script | John Canemaker, Joseph Kennedy , Peggy Stern |
| production | Peggy Stern, John Canemaker for John Canemaker Productions |
| music | Ron Sadoff |
| camera | Gary Becker |
| cut | David Mehlman |
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation is an American animated short film directed by John Canemaker from 2005.
action
A son has an imaginary conversation with his late father, John Cannizzaro. He shows him the pictures he drew of him when he was dying and he tells him about a dream he had: he and his brother were feeding the father who is the man in the moon had turned, all at once, however, became an aggressive turtle and bit the sons. The son wants to know why his father was always aggressive towards his children, who then had to be protected by the mother.
The son recalls a phone call in 1951 when he was eight years old. He brought the news that his father's hotel was on fire - his father denies having started the fire himself, but admits that he used the insurance money. Then follows the memory of the arrest of the father. After five years, he was released from prison and the son was ashamed. Now he wants to know everything about his father's past and John Cannizzaro begins to tell.
He was born in the United States in 1907, but his Italian parents took him back to Italy when he was a toddler. Like the rest of the extended family, he had to work hard from a young age and only attended school briefly. He came into contact with the Mafia and was soon arrested. He returned to the United States as an American citizen in 1925 and was arrested several times as a murderer and alcohol smuggler. In 1941 he married the mother of their son, who was the couple's first child in 1943. John served as a soldier in World War II and was awarded two Purple Hearts for his services . The second child was born and the father built houses for his family and loved ones, whom he brought from Italy to the USA, and bought a hotel with funds advanced by the Mafia. He could no longer pay the debts and, on the advice of the Mafia, set the hotel on fire in order to repay the money with the sum insured. The mother's imprisonment and hard work followed and the father after her release. And there was tension.
The son confesses that he was always afraid of his father, who always told him that he would never make it. The son recapitulates his escape from his parents' home when he was 18 years old and admits that he felt more free, even if he felt guilty about his mother. The son turned to animation because he could control it and not she controlled him. He accuses his father of having controlled the entire family and of driving his mother into alcohol and pill addiction, thus contributing to her death in 1986.
Only shortly before his death did the father open up and travel to Italy one last time. When John Cannizzano proudly announced that he had given the church in his village two bells, the son reacts angrily. Neither he nor his brother or mother would have benefited from it. He admits that he has to keep his father at a distance so as not to think about him all the time - he should be like the man in the moon: far enough away that he can no longer hurt his son, but bright enough not to be forgotten devices. The son erases the figure of the father and the father complains about the film the son is making about him.
The son tells the father that he had a dream when the father died. The father would have turned into the man in the moon, who stands far above the earth as a sickle. The father reacts with amusement and delight at the idea of being the man in the moon. “That's nice”, he says, and the son replies resignedly “Hm, that's nice”. "John Cannizzaro 1907–1995" follows.
production
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation consists of a mix of animation scenes, film scenes and photo overlays. The animations, traditional hand drawings, come from John Canemaker. It was the longest film at the time that he had created as a draftsman and director.
The film is based on interviews Canemaker conducted with his father John F. Cannizzaro Senior shortly before his death in 1995. With the film he wanted to come to terms with his own difficult relationship with his father:
“I made this film to resolve long-standing emotional issues I have with my late father. I wanted to find answers to our difficult relationship, to understand the reasons he was always a feared figure in my childhood, why he was always angry and defensive, verbally and physically abusive, and often in trouble with the law. "
“With the film, I wanted to solve long emotional conflicts with my father. I wanted to find an answer to the question about our difficult relationship and understand the reasons why I always feared him in my childhood, why he was always angry and dismissive, hurt others physically and psychologically and so often came into conflict with the law. "
The film was first shown on January 5, 2005 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City .
synchronization
| role | Original speaker |
|---|---|
| father | Eli Wallach |
| son | John Turturro |
| mother | Mary Bringle |
| Lawyer | Peter Schlosser |
| Defense attorney, judge | Larry White |
Awards
The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation won in 2006 the Oscar in the category " Best Animated Short Film ".
The film was also nominated for an Annie Award for best animated short film in 2006, but could not prevail against The Fan and the Flower .
Web links
- The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation on bcdb.com